Seeds of Destruction
Seeds of Destruction A new rift has opened in the Plane of Time. This rift leads to a bleak prophecy of the end of existence. The world of Norrath lies in ruins. The planet has shattered into millions of shards, spinning in a silent void around the rapidly blackening star of Ro. In the wreckage on a small shard of the world, a lone figure sits quietly tending a small seedling growing between the rocks. The lone figure is none other than the fallen god Zebuxoruk. He is the only survivor of the end of the world, and perhaps the only one who knows how to prevent it. Background: During the invasion of the Plane of Time, mortal adventurers were intent on the release of Zebuxoruk from his eternal stasis. The goddess Druzzil Ro was forced to reorder the timeweave in order to prevent Zebuxoruk from escaping. This rethreading of the timeweave created a small weakness in the flow of time. For many years the weakness in the fabric of reality went unnoticed. During the events of the Wayfarer’s journeys in Taelosia and the Priests of Discords work in reaching the Realm of Discord, the forces of Discord poured through a portal into Norrath. The first invasion, headed by the overlord Mata Muram, was turned away by the combined forces of the heroes of Norrath. However, Mata Muram's forces were only a portion of the greater armies of Discord. These forces all worshiped a dark god of the discordant pantheon. This dark god was infuriated by Mata Muram's failure but was also intrigued with the power that was able to repel the Muramite forces. While investigating Norrath the dark god became aware of the small weakness that Druzzil Ro had created in the timeweave and made plans to exploit it. The weakness in the weave allowed the dark god a limited access to the history of Norrath. He then sent agents to key points in Norrathian history to hamstring the development of Norrath and ensure an easy victory for his armies. The dark god's meddling with the timeline did not go unnoticed. The inhabitants of the Plane of Time were immediately aware of something manipulating the continuity of Norrath. Rifts began to open in the plane. One such rift leads to the end of time where the shards of the world of Norrath float silently in space which foretells a horrible catastrophe. How can mortals hope to stop it? The Void Because of Discord's interference in the timelines of Norrath the world has been destroyed completely. The only objects left are the drifting asteroid shards called The Void. Sparking time portals in The Void drift in the ether and lead to the various rifts in time: the Plane of Time, Bloody Kithicor, the Field of Scale, Oceangreen Hills, the Bloodfields, the Invasion of the Plane of Earth, and realm of Discord. The only living creature in The Void is the god Zebuxoruk; torn from the flow of time by the combined might of the elder gods of Norrath. His only "companion" in The Void is a single small seedling that he tends as best he can with next to no resources beyond his severely limited divine powers. The Pantheon of Norrath was destroyed when the world was broken. The only remnants of these gods are the discarded relics that drift throughout the void of space. Norrath's Sun, Ro, is rapidly shrinking in on itself and turning into a black hole. Massive solar flares spark off the surface constantly. Even The Void will disappear soon unless someone repairs the damage that has been done to time. Zebuxoruk is certainly insane, but has a unique insight into the current state of the world and possibly might hold the knowledge to guide adventurers in the quest to prevent the destruction of Norrath. Only he can direct adventurers towards specific moments in time where the armies of Discord were able to disrupt the timeline. If they are able to stop the forces of Discord, the destruction in The Void will slowly be repaired. If not, all hope will be lost. Oceangreen Hills After the fall of the Combine Empire, the majority of mankind spread out and occupied the center of what was then called Tunaria. These humans lived in small villages upon the fertile plains of Karana and in an area along the western coast called the Oceangreen Hills. Over time, several villages prospered and grew into small towns. Two of these towns were so successful as to eventually grow into full-fledged cities. On the eastern coast, Freeport grew to be a bustling port frequented by those braving the journey across the Ocean of Tears. To the west, the city of Qeynos grew from the foundations of Oceangreen village, under the noble rule of Antonius Bayle, the Great Unifier. Oceangreen was made up primarily of lush green grassland and gently rolling hills. To the north, the Jaggedpine forest hampered travel towards the barbarian Northlands. To the east, a set of very high and steep hills cut off all access except for a tunnel that led to Blackburrow, home of the gnolls, and a narrow valley that led off to the great plains which are now known as the Plains of Karana. On the western borders of Oceangreen, several sets of steep hills existed in the northern region and an ocean bay in the southwest. The region was also the home to several different clans of Gnolls. However, only the largest of these clans, the Sabertooth clan, was violent towards human settlers. Despite the growth and prosperity in the area, a dark specter loomed on the horizon. A plague had slowly begun to take root in the Oceangreen region affecting not only humans but animals and plant life as well. Travelers brought horrifying tales of twisted, gruesome animals that have been disfigured by the blight. The source of the plague lay undiscovered for many years. Unbeknownst to the founders of Oceangreen village, a powerful temple to Bertoxxulous had been constructed along the outskirts of the city. As the village grew, so too did the power of the temple. Even the gnolls, once a real threat to hunters in the area, retreated into Blackburrow and barred the entrance. Then Antonius Bayle was born, and grew into a strong leader during the years that the plague from the hills began to infect the creatures and plant life of the Karanas. Bayle led a group of hunters and warriors into the hills and founded a stronghold on the edge of the forest and began a campaign against the followers of Bertoxxulous. Over time he overcame his enemies and the druids of Karana were able to wash away the taint of the disease. Slowly things began to return to normal and Antonius Bayle went on to found a city on the bay and called it Qeynos. But now the future of humankind is once again in jeopardy. The influence of the god of Discord has reached back through time to strengthen the plague and followers of Bertoxxulous. At such a critical moment in human history it will not take much to push them over the brink and forever change the history of Norrath. Without help the inhabitants of Oceangreen will surely be overcome by the power of this plague and usher in a new era of darkness for all humanity. Who will help to save them? Oceangreen Village Oceangreen Village is a small human village within the Oceangreen Hills. With its simple wooden structures and humble surroundings, this small hamlet is on the edge of prosperity under the direction of Antonius Bayle. The plague has begun to creep towards the village, but has not yet infected the population at large. The village is currently under attack by a force of Bertoxxulous worshippers and hordes of undead that spread disease and decay, infecting all life in the area. The temple can be accessed through a shard of corrupted stone that has breached the earth to the north of the village proper. Luckily for the villagers a force of heroes has risen up to help defend the village. These heroes are lead by a charismatic man named Antonius Bayle. Thus far the village has been fortunate enough to not have had to deal with the threat of the gnolls of Blackburrow, as they have shut themselves off from the Oceangreen hills in order to avoid the plague. Blackburrow Blackburrow is the main home of the Sabertooth clan of gnolls in Oceangreen. The Sabertooth clan has recently claimed this lair as their own, locking themselves away from human invaders and the dark plague that threatens Oceangreen. Along the western mountain side lives what remains of the Darkpaw gnolls, who seem to be disinterested in the affairs of human kind, as they are completely focused on returning to their home in the mines of Blackburrow. Though they hold no anger towards the growing human population they have no reason to trust in them either. Several are willing to form a tenuous truce with the humans in order to help drive the combative Sabertooth gnolls from their previous home. Unfortunately for the gnolls, an agent of the Discord has a plan of its own. The agent is well on its way to corrupting the Sabertooth gnolls within Blackburrow; transforming them into a dark twisted reflection of their former selves. It will not be long before even the gnolls outside of Blackburrow begin to fall under their influence. The gnolls have already begun to show signs of increased aggression that surely can not bode well for Antonius and his followers. The Temple of Bertoxxulous The Temple of Bertoxxulous is a hidden temple to the god Bertoxxulous. Bertoxxulous was so happy with his followers and this temple that he helped construct it himself, carving it out of the very stone with his own powers. The temple is dominated by human worshippers of Bertoxxulous and their numerous undead minions. They are a strict theocratic order that is fiercely militant in structure. They have also constructed a variety of magically animated guardians to discourage would-be heroes from interfering with their machinations. The worshippers of Bertoxxulous have lived here secretly for decades, but have only recently become emboldened enough to spread their influence to the surface. Their once troublesome interferences have festered into a full blown plague that now threatens all of Tunaria. They must be stopped if the future of humanity is to remain intact. Bloody Kithicor Two great armies converged on the Kithicor Forest for one of the largest and bloodiest battles in Norrath's history. Lanys T`Vyl, the Child of Hate and Firiona Vie, the Chosen of Tunare brought their armies to Kithicor to wage war for the fate of Antonica. Firiona's relentless quest to keep the forces of evil at bay had all led to this. If her forces were to fall the fate of her world would belong to the Teir'Dal. Lanys hoped to impress her father Innoruuk, and be the instrument of his hatred against Tunare and all the forces of good. The forest was littered with camps and defensive structures. To prepare for battle, the dark elves used the Commonlands as a staging ground while the forces of good gathered in the Keep of Highpass Hold. History records Firiona Vie was the victor of the battle. Defeated, Lanys T`Vyl was rescued when her mentor Laarthik K`Shin used a magical artifact to open a portal to the Plane of Hate so Innoruuk could rescue his daughter. Angry with her failure, he took Lanys to the plane of Hate, where she was continually tortured for years so that the intensity of her hate would become pure. In Norrath's present, the agents of Discord are attempting to disrupt the battle and change the fate of Firiona and Lanys. Should the histories of these two heroes change the ripples through time would surely be cataclysmic. Field of Bone The Field of Bone was once a lush and fertile grassland located within the heart of the Sebilisian Empire. It is now scarred by a massive crater caused by a cataclysmic clash of magical energy. The bones of every race on the continent of Kunark litter the ground amidst the sparse vegetation and the ancient ruins of a once grand city continue to crumble and crack in the blistering, unforgiving climate. The carpet of sun-bleached bones and rubble is the remnant of the great war fought on this open plain between the iksar and their innumerable foes during their empire's peak. It was here where the dragons chose to stage their attack on the iksar in an attempt to end their reign. It is said that the remains of the ancient dragon Jaled'Dar lay in the ruins where the child of Veeshan fell at the hand of Ganak, the last of the iksar emperors. Under the rule of Rile Sathir, son of Venril Sathir, the iksar had left the dragon lands alone. With the growth of their empire, however, the threat the iksar posed was easy to see. The dragon lords convened the Ring of Scale and argued about how to proceed. Trakanon, the poison dragon, advocated swift intervention on behalf of all races against the iksar. However, he was voted down and the Ring of Scale decided to intervene indirectly. Trakanon and a number of the younger dragons decided more direct action was required. They conjured a squall at sea that destroyed Rile's warship while the King was onboard. This action triggered a spectacular war amongst the dragons that lasted for almost a half century. Over the next half century, dragonkind struggled against the airborne iksar army. Rile's son Atrebe succeeded him at the throne but he later perished in one of his own foul, necromantic experiments. After the death of his father, General Ganak acted quickly to assassinate his brothers and rose to the throne of Sebilis, claiming the title Emperor. The war ended inconclusively over the open fields with an aerial duel between Ganak on his sokokar mount and Jaled'Dar, the leader of the Ring of Scale. Mutually incinerated by magic and fire, the explosion that vanquished both combatants carved out the sunken, destroyed area in the center of the field. Before retreating, the dragons destroyed Ganak's imperial palace within Kaesora and all the hatchlings within it, ending the royal lineage. Field of Scale The great war between the Sebilisian Empire and the Ring of Scale marks a high point of focus for the forces of discord. If Norrath's timeline can be corrupted at this point, they could usurp the warlike iksar and integrate them into their world-destroying armies. The iksar would be used as shock-troopers to make first planet fall in the "discord-riders" future campaigns. With this as the goal, a resourceful discord enchanter has been sent through the rift to beguile the iksar leaders with promises of power and conquest and to ply them with weapons powerful enough to defeat the Ring of Scale's dragons. Even during the war against the dragons, there is a bit of tension amongst the iksar forces. Kurn, warmaster of the iksar military, is holed up in his stronghold working on his own plans for defeating the dragons and has little patience for Emperor Ganak. He remains loyal but feels that while Ganak is a strong leader, he is not aggressive enough and is unwilling to sacrifice enough for victory in battle. Ganak no longer trusts Kurn, if he ever did. This internal struggle has made the battle easier on the dragons than they had expected. But Jaled'Dar does not know why it is that the resistance has been rather weak, and so remains cautious. Realizing that the critical juncture in time rapidly approaches, forces of discord tempt Emperor Ganak with a dragonbane shield that can deflect dragonfire and Warmaster Kurn with dragonbane defenses by teaching several of the iksar necromancers how to perform draconic sacrifices to enchant weapons with a deadly dragonbane enchantment. The result is a sizeable squad of elite iksar combatants with the ability to dispatch dragons. These forces will be more than enough to turn the tide of this conflict against the mighty Ring of Scale… unless this corruption of time can be repaired. Emperor Ganak Ganak draws much of his power from Cazic-Thule. After two generations of warfare with the Ring of Scale, a war that was started by the radical actions of the more aggressive dragons, Ganak wants vengeance for himself and his royal bloodline as well as for the legions of iksar who have fallen to the Ring of Scale. Warmaster Kurn Kurn will pursue victory at any cost. He has made the watch tower outside the city his garrison and base of operations. It is from here that he commands the iksar legions, at the behest of his Emperor Ganak. Jaled'Dar Eldest and most powerful dragon of the Ring of Scale, his goals include the suppression of the Sebilisian Empire through domination and warfare. Frustrated and enraged, Jaled'Dar is willing to enlist any assistance necessary to assert the rightful dominance of the Ring of Scale. Invasion of Earth During the Elder Age of Norrath, the first Rallosian forces led by the great ogre Murdunk invaded the Plane of Earth - the realm ruled by The Rathe, Council of Thirteen. Under the command of Rallos Zek, the Warlord, Murdunk was instigated to invade this realm by Rallos Zek's eldest son, Eriak. The goal was simple for Murdunk - he wanted to prove to Rallos Zek, the Warlord, that he was worthy to lead the forces of Zek throughout Norrath. A great battle ensued and many guardians of earth perished along with numerous members of Murdunk's Rallosian army. To their dismay, the invasion was destined to fail because of the regenerating ability that The Rathe possessed. When a member of the Council of Thirteen was slain another would replace it. This gave them great advantage and although many of their guardians had been defeated, The Rathe emerged victorious. Those Rallosians not slain were thrown from the plane by the wards of The Council of Thirteen. News of the defeat spread quickly across the Rallosian Empire. Such a dramatic failure angered Rallos Zek. He was not content to wait for the heavily scarred and injured Murdunk to recuperate and chose to enlist master tacticians and proven war heroes Tallon and Vallon. Although he was extremely disappointed with Murdunk's previous failure, Rallos Zek decided to allow him to accompany his horde in this second assault hoping to make use of the knowledge that Murdunk had acquired in his previous battles in the Plane of Earth. With the power of the Warlord behind them, Tallon and Vallon rallied the legions of children of Zek and entered the Plane of Earth. This invasion was only partly successful – though the Rathelings' power source remained untaken, the members of the Rathe Council were captured and brought to Norrath, where one of them was executed. Where this Rathe member fell, the Rathe Mountains were raised, and Lake Rathetear formed. The Rathelings were incensed at these brazen attacks, and mourned the death of the thirteenth council member; for one of them to die in Norrath was permanent and irreversible. While Rallos Zek was unquestionably the greatest warrior ever to exist, he knew little of the inner working of the Planes of Power. Rallos Zek was ultimately scarred and disfigured by the same wards that had banished Eriak and he lay silently regenerating in the Plane of War while the reborn Rathe exacted vengeance on the army's leaders. As the leader of the ogre nation and Zek army, Murdunk was slain. To protect their realm from further fruitless attempts at invasion, the Rathe Council placed a curse upon all creatures of Zek. In this they were aided by several other members of the pantheon. The curse spread rapidly through the lush homelands of the giants and froze all of the lands, now known as Everfrost. The curse swept the lands of Norrath, striking any child of Zek that it touched, turning all followers of Zek into lesser beings in mind and body. Tallon and Vallon, sensing their inevitable demise at the hands of the curse of the pantheon, called out to Rallos Zek to deliver them. Rallos Zek was sufficiently renewed by this time to summon Tallon and Vallon to his plane to escape the curse of the pantheon, but was unable to save the rest of his creations. Realizing that Eriak surely knew of the ward that protected the Plane of Earth and had failed to tell him of it, Rallos Zek brought the crippled form of Eriak before him. Rallos Zek tore from him the essence of warfare, tearing it into its more base elements and imbuing them to Tallon and Vallon, the two mortals who were able to succeed where Eriak had failed. Eriak still retains a piece of the essence of war in his shattered and disfigured frame, but was banished to the lower levels of Drunder, the Fortress of Zek, to help in the menial tasks of forging weapons for his father's armies. To this day the great form of Rallos Zek bears the scars from the ward of The Rathe beneath his blackened war armor, a silent reminder of the failure of his only son. This is a pivotal moment in the history of Norrath. It is here that the forces of Discord plan to strike. Success by the Rallosians would mean that war would prevail on Norrath, and isn't war a form of destruction, of discord? The Korascian Warrens The Korascian Warrens is the key invasion route for the Rallosian forces as they battle their way into the Rathe Council Chamber. This area of the Plane of Earth is adjacent to both the Rathe Council Chamber entrance and the portal to Toskirakk. The bulk of the Rallosian Army is in a siege camp in the northern canyon, facing the entrance to the Rathe Council Chamber. The Warrens is named for the great frog Korascian Prime, who has guarded the approach to the Rathe Council for centuries. Now he and his minions are sequestered in the west astride the line of the Rallosian advance, battling ill-equipped Rallosian slaves who are sent in to distract the frogs. Many such slaves end up succumbing to Korascian Prime's mesmerization powers and become thralls. Korascian Prime's original lair was destroyed by the Discordians with a great magical disjunction. This left a massive rift in the northeastern limb of the Korascian Warrens, exposing the Plane of Earth's elemental crystal core, and venting out a new order of crystalline monstrosities which hate all other forms of life. The Rathe Council Chamber The Rathe Council Chamber is the original seat of The Rathe beings who govern the Plane of Earth. Its appearance reflects the essence of the powerful beings who rule here. Great stonework vaults linked with tunnels define the interior, which is patrolled by stone golems and guarded by many different kinds of creatures native to the Plane. The Rallosian Army is attempting to destroy all thirteen members of The Rathe Council to seal Rallos Zek's dominion over the Plane of Earth as well as Norrath. Should this happen, with Rallos gaining control over the source of the Rathelings' magic, the balance of power among the gods would tilt inexorably in Rallos Zek's favor, and Norrath would enter an age of endless disorder and destruction. Toskirakk Toskirakk is the original capital city of the ogres and the mightiest bastion of the ancient Rallosian Empire. The slave-mine within is a platinum mine where much of the currency used in Norrath's future would originate. With the growing dominance of their Empire, few outsiders remain as free people and the slave warrens grow crowded.